Originally, the RedShift
project began under the
BRD name four years
ago. Initial investors came
up with $3.7 million to
get it started, but there
were numerous stops and
re-starts along the way.

And then, late last year,
came an additional $4.5
million in Series A funding
to bring the project into
its ;nal phase of production. Along with the new
funding came some new
technology and, oh yeah, a
new name.

At last October’sAIMExpo motorcycle showin Florida, the new AltaRedShift was unveiled,and word on the streetis that sometime in thethird quarter of 2015 thecompany will be deliveringits ;rst motorcycles tothe public. Did the peopleat Alta meet their goalof exceeding the perfor-mance of internal combus-tion motorcycles? Theyseem to think so.There will actuallybe two models built onthe same platform. TheRedShift MX is the bikethat drove the entire proj-ect. It’s a motocross-spe-ci;c bike designed to becompetitive with gaso-line-powered, 250cc, four-stroke racing machines.A street-legal spin-off ofthat model, the RedShiftSM, is planned to beavailable afterwards. Bothwill have the same powersupply, a 24-volt lithi-um-ion battery, that is saidto produce peak outputof 40 horsepower. Thismeets the stated goal eas-ily, although the claimedweight of 251 pounds (forthe MX) is still about 15pounds more than a fullyfueled gasoline-powered{ ATLAS }